Fang Ming rubbed his temples, a trace of exhaustion and inner conflict showing in his eyes.
Before transmigrating, he was a nine-to-five corporate slave. Though he had no money, he at least had a moral compass; he'd even toss a few yuan to elderly beggars on the street.
After transmigrating, however, he had become the lackey of a top-tier profligate scion.
Over the past month, he had taken drinks for Qin Xiao, handled business disputes, and even had to deal with Qin Xiao's messy romantic entanglements. He was essentially an all-purpose nanny.
But as for the compensation... Fang Ming gave a bitter smile, glancing at the balance notification from his mobile bank!
[Balance: 251.36 Yuan]
When others transmigrate, they get systems, or old grandfathers, or at the very least, powerful parents to back them up.
He transmigrated and got nothing.
Furthermore, the original Qin Xiao didn't treat him like a human being at all, summoning and dismissing him at will, and paying him whenever he felt like it.
It was only recently that Qin Xiao's personality underwent a drastic change; remembering the merits of his follower, he had uncharacteristically given him a raise.
But it only went up to twenty thousand yuan.
In a money-burning pit like Rong City, twenty thousand yuan couldn't even buy a wheel for this audi a6, not to mention that his late father had left him over a hundred thousand in high-interest gambling debts.
The moment his monthly salary arrived, before it could even get warm in his pocket, more than half of it had to go toward paying the interest.
"Glamorous on the surface, but riddled with debt in reality."
Fang Ming looked at the expensive shirt he was wearing; it was a uniform issued by Qin Xiao just so he could keep up appearances when running errands.
Strip away this skin, and he, Fang Ming, was just a pauper who could barely afford rent.
"Bullying a little girl—is this something a human being does?"
Fang Ming pulled a ten-yuan pack of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket and tremblingly lit one. The smell of cheap tobacco felt completely out of place in the luxurious car cabin.
"But if I don't do it, Qin Xiao will definitely get someone else to do it."
"If a reckless idiot like Wang Meng were to step in, I'm afraid it wouldn't be as simple as this girl losing her financial aid. She might lose her dignity and virtue as well."
"And..."
Fang Ming's fingers tightened around the cigarette.
If he disobeyed Qin Xiao's orders, losing a job with a twenty-thousand-yuan salary would be the least of his problems.
With Qin Xiao's vindictive nature, combined with his own mountain of debt, he feared that if he didn't cling tightly to this thigh, he might end up dead in the street tomorrow.
"Damn it, being a dog for a capitalist is so freaking hard, and trying to be a good person is even harder."
Fang Ming took a deep drag of the cigarette. The spark flickered at his fingertips, and the stinging sensation of the burn reaching his finger made him knit his brows.
Just as he was in the midst of an internal struggle, tormented by both poverty and conscience...
Deep in his mind, a crisp electronic sound suddenly rang out.
[Ding]
[Detected that the host is facing a major moral choice and survival crisis. Emotional fluctuation value has reached the threshold.]
[Myriad Heavens Mutual Aid Group is activating...]
Fang Ming's hand jerked, and hot ash fell onto his expensive suit trousers, making him flinch from the heat.
"Holy crap? A system?"
As a veteran bookworm, Fang Ming was all too familiar with this stuff.
The standard equipment for a transmigrator—better late than never!
Fang Ming hurriedly sat up straight, not even bothering to brush the ash off his pants, and held his breath in concentration.
In the void before his eyes, a light blue semi-transparent interface slowly emerged. It looked a bit like the chat box of that green app, but more sci-fi and minimalist.
[System activation successful.]
[Identity Binding: Fang Ming.]
[Current Position: group owner.]
[Generating group nickname... Detected that the host is in a special faction but possesses a conscience. Automatically generating ID: Nameless Guide.]
[Searching for high-potential members from across the Myriad Heavens...]
[Search successful!]
["Soldier King Lone Wolf" has joined the Chat Group.]
["Marvelous Doctor of Chinese Medicine" has joined the Chat Group.]
["Peking University" has joined the Chat Group.]
A series of notification tones made Fang Ming's head buzz.
He stared wide-eyed at the chat interface.
A Chat Group?? group owner?
Before Fang Ming could react to what on earth this "Myriad Heavens Mutual Aid Group" was, the first message had already popped up in the group chat interface.
[Soldier King Lone Wolf]: "Who? Which death-seeking bastard dared to hack into my tactical eyepiece?! (Angry.jpg)"
Immediately after, the second person spoke up.
[Marvelous Doctor of Chinese Medicine]: "Eh? What kind of spell is this? Could it be the Thousand-Mile Voice Transmission Master mentioned? But I'm clearly still in seclusion in the alchemy room. (Confused.jpg)"
[Peking University]: "Could it be that I've been doing so many practice problems lately that I'm having hallucinations?"
Looking at these three messages with completely different styles, Fang Ming was stunned.
This sense of déjà vu... why was it so familiar?
When he used to read novels on Earth, IDs like these were the standard equipment for protagonists in urban power fantasies!
Fang Ming took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He didn't rush to speak, but instead quickly checked the Chat Group functions.
There were currently only these three people in the member list; including him, the group owner, there were four in total.
But the profile pictures of these three... Fang Ming clicked on the profile of [Soldier King Lone Wolf]. It was a photo filled with the smoke and fire of war, set against a desolate desert background with a sniper rifle thrust into a sand dune.
He clicked on [Marvelous Doctor of Chinese Medicine]'s. It was a hand holding a silver needle, with a smoke-wreathed alchemy furnace in the background.
He clicked on [Peking University]'s. It was a stack of "Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Exams" piled up like a mountain.
Fang Ming's fingers tapped unconsciously on the steering wheel.
The vibes of these people were far too similar to those novel protagonists.
Could it be... To verify his hypothesis, Fang Ming cleared his throat and tried to input the first message in his mind.
[Nameless Guide]: "Everyone, since you are here, make yourselves at home. This is the Myriad Heavens Mutual Aid Group."
Once this message was sent, the group fell silent for a few seconds.
After a long while.
[Soldier King Lone Wolf]: "Playing god, are we? Do you know who I am? Acting tough in front of me?? Believe it or not, I'll follow the network cable and drag you out!"
What a short fuse.
Fang Ming curled his lip.
[Peking University]: "This probably isn't a prank. I'm only starting my senior year next semester. The group owner not only knows my situation, but even set up the ID..."
[Marvelous Doctor of Chinese Medicine]: "Senior, may I ask why you've pulled me in here? This batch of Nine-Turn Large Intestine Pills... ah no, Nine-Turn Soul-Returning Pills is at a critical stage of the firing process."
Seeing the words of the three in the group, Fang Ming was even more certain of their identities.
Soldier King? Marvelous Doctor? Top Student? If these aren't protagonists, what are they?
But... they had become Chat Group members, and he had become the group owner??
In any novel, a system is the golden finger used by a protagonist to turn the tables.
Fang Ming pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose, his brain beginning to work at high speed.
The current situation was very clear: he had obtained the Chat Group golden finger, and the members were likely protagonists.
Meanwhile, he, the Chat Group group owner, was actually just a rich second-generation's henchman about to bully a poor school beauty. Therefore, he couldn't let these people know his true identity.
"Since the system gave me the group owner status and the [Nameless Guide] persona, I have to play this part to perfection."